Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Concord Steam Cotton Factory Records #4474-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from John K. P. Odell through the Charles A. Cannon Memorial Library of Concord, N.C., in October 1986 and March 1988 and from Clarence Horton in February 2015 (Acc. 86167, 88088, and 102163).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Benjamin H. Trask, January 1987; Roslyn Holdzkom, October 1988

Updated: March 2019

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Barringer, Paul, 1778-1844.
• Concord Manufacturing Company (Concord, N.C.)
• Concord Steam Cotton Factory (Concord, N.C.)
• Cotton textile industry--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Industries--North Carolina--Concord--History--19th century.
• Odell Manufacturing Company (Concord, N.C.)--History.
• Textile industry--North Carolina--History--19th century.

The Concord Steam Cotton Factory, also referred to as the Concord Manufacturing Company, was organized 16 February 1839 by a group of six entrepreneurs. General Paul Barringer served as the first president. Other notable founders included John T. Phifer, Daniel Moreau Barringer (1806-1873), and Robert Washington Allison (1809-1898). The business started with capital of $24,000 and 600 spindles shipped from Fishkill, N.Y. This was the first cotton mill on record in Cabarrus County, N.C.

William Jenks, a Pennsylvanian, was the mill's first mechanic, but was replaced by John McDonald, also from Pennsylvania, before operations actually began. By April 1842, the mill was in full operation, producing cotton yarn, shirting, and nails. A year later, the company paid its first dividend at three percent per share. In 1859, John McDonald took over the ownership and management of the mill. The factory remained in operation during the Civil War and supplied cloth for uniforms.

In 1879, John Milton Odell purchased the firm and, with financial backing from seven other stockholders, built the Odell Manufacturing Company on the same property. Odell was the president and major stockholder, and his son William was secretary- treasurer. The Odell Manufacturing Company operated until 1907, when, in the face of worsening economic conditions and declining profits, the firm went bankrupt. Most of the mill itself burned in August 1908.

Source: Gary Freeze, unpublished dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and information supplied by the Charles A. Cannon Memorial Library.

The collection contains an 1856 letter to stockholders, acts of incorporation, records of stocks and property, minutes of meetings of the board of directors and general stockholders for the Concord Steam Cotton Factory, minutes of stockholders' meetings for the Odell Manufacturing Company, and related items.